Sharing your Mac’s Internet connection only takes a few clicks, and you can even set up an improvised WiFi hotspot without installing any third party software.

Maybe there’s only one Ethernet cable in the hotel room, and you want to share your connection with others. Maybe you paid for airport Wi-Fi, and want to share that connection with a friend. Or maybe you just want to give a desktop computer you’re working on a temporary connection to the web.

Whatever your reason, sharing your Mac’s Internet connection is relatively simple. Here’s where to find the Internet Sharing feature on your Mac, and how to use it to share your current connection with other devices.

Finding The Share Internet Feature

First, open System Preferences. You’ll find this on the dock, by selecting it from the menu on the Apple logo at top-left, or by hitting cmd+spacebar and searching for it using Spotlight.

Click the Sharing options, then look at the panel in the left. See Internet Sharing? Click that (but don’t check it yet!) and you’ll bring up a set of options for sharing your connection.

From you can configure everything you need to share your Internet connection. You need to set where you Internet access is currently coming from, and which device you’d like to share it. Let’s get started with a likely example.

Share Your Mac’s Ethernet Connection Over WiFi

If you’ve got a wired connection to the Internet that you want to share, you’ll need to set up an improvised Wi-Fi network. Under Share your connection from, pick “Ethernet“, then under To computers using pick “Wi-Fi“.

Once you check Wi-Fi, the Wi-Fi Options button will become clickable. Click it and you can set up a WPA2 password for your improvised network, or choose an older security method in case the computer you’re sharing with has particularly old hardware that doesn’t support WPA2.

When you’re done, click the checkmark beside Internet Sharing in the left panel. You’ll see this warning:

All this means is you can’t connect to Wi-Fi networks while you’re Mac is set to use your wireless card for Internet Sharing – you’ll have to turn it off if you want to use Wi-Fi again. Click Start if you understand this, and just like that you’ve created a Wi-Fi network.

You can connect to this with any device. I tested my network with an Android phone, and it worked flawlessly.

The range was bigger than I expect for an improvised network: I walked around my house and the connection kept working. This won’t replace a router, but it’s not bad considering it’s such a cinch to set up.

Share Your WiFi Connection Over Ethernet

Maybe you have access to a Wi-Fi network, and want to share that connection with another machine. If you have access to an Ethernet cable, you can quickly get this working. Just pick Wi-Fi as the connection you’ll be sharing, and Ethernet as where you’ll be sharing it from.

Click the checkmark next to Internet Sharing and you’re ready to share your connection. Plug your Ethernet cable into your Mac, then plug the other end into whatever other device needs access. This will work with other Macs, Windows and Linux PCs and pretty much any device with an Ethernet port. I use this occasionally while trying out Raspbery Pi projectsRaspberry Pi Projects for BeginnersRaspberry Pi Projects for BeginnersThese 10 Raspberry Pi projects for beginners are great for getting an introduction to the hardware and software capabilities of the Pi, and will help you get up and running in no time!Read More, for example.

But Wait, There’s More

By now I think you’ve grasped the concept: if you’re getting Internet access from one source, you can share it with another. It’s worth noting that you have other options: you can share your connection with a Firewire/USB cable, for example, or even over Bluetooth. I had trouble getting a Bluetooth connection to actually do things, but your mileage may vary. Devices with newer Bluetooth technology are likely to see more stable connections and faster speeds.

What Did We Miss?

This gives you the basics for sharing your Internet connection. It’s not necessarily something you will use every day, but it’s a good thing to know about for the occasional situation where it’s useful.

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Allan Marcus

October 24, 2017 at 6:25 pm

How can my iPhone use my Macs network over a USB cable? I cannot set up BT or WiFi. I see iPhone USB in the Mac's sharing panel, but what do I set on my iPhone to tell the iPhone to get network over USB?

Justin Pot is a technology journalist based in Portland, Oregon. He loves technology, people and nature – and tries to enjoy all three whenever possible. You can chat with Justin on Twitter, right now.